This form decides how TAP is going to calculate your Sight Spine, Sight Tape, Sight Marks and Ballistic Data. Selecting a method will show you what needs to be entered. Hovering your mouse over the input fields will change the picture to aid you in what to enter. What method you choose and use is up to you, the following is a typical guideline as to what to use based on the type of shooting you are doing in order of popularity.

3D: Single Speed, Two Speeds, or Calculate Everything

Field/FITA: Sight Marks, Two Speeds, or Single Speed

For ‘Sight Mark’ method TAP now lets you choose your close range mark. In the menu on the top of the program window click ‘Options’ then ‘Near Sight Mark’. On the input form the close range mark is now calibrated for the setting above.

For ‘Calculate Everything’ you must keep in mind that although this is known to be very accurate, garbage in will always yield garbage out. It is also very dependant on how accurate the MFG publishes the specs of their bows. If they are being optimistic with their specs then so will TAP! If you find that your tape is way off, you can always check your speed against what TAP calculates at your local Pro Shop.

Sight Information

On this form you will select the ‘type’ of sight you have and enter two critical pieces of information, ‘peep to pin’ and ‘peep to arrow’. Make sure to take care in measuring this information.

Linear Sights

These sights typically are a ‘T’ bar type sight. The sight moves on a vertical axis with some sort of adjustment knob. They typically have a sight scale on the sight that is calibrated to the ‘clicks’ and ‘turns’ of the screw. ‘Clicks’ are defined by the vertical adjustment knob’s clicks per full revolution. ‘Turns’ is defined by how many turns of the vertical knob it takes to move the sight bar one inch.

If you are planning on just using a Sight Tape this spec is not necessary to enter. If you are planning on having a Sight Mark chart then this spec is VERY important.

Non Linear Sights

These sights typically have a bar on the side that moves a back pointer and a front mounted scope or pin. They are almost never a one to one ratio so we need enter the dimensions TAP shows in the pictures when you hover over ‘Frontal movement’ and ‘Rear movement’. It does not matter how you measure this. You can use inches, millimeters, miles or microns, just as long as you use the same for both!

Specialty Sights

If you have one of these Sights then select it here. If any additional enter fields appear make sure to enter them from the manufactures specifications that were shipped with your Sight.

Bow Information:

The top section of this form is where you enter all of your bow’s information. Select your type of bow, what type of release you use, and what you have mounted in or on the string. Finally enter in the text fields what your actual measured specs are. The only time the bow database will appear is when ‘Calculate Everything’ is selected. Pay special attention to the Bow picture when you click in the input fields. The picture will change and show you what the program is looking for.

Arrow Information:

If you know your arrow specs you can skip the bottom of this form and just enter them on the top. Use the bottom section if you need to calculate your arrow weight and get the diameter. Once you are done you must click ‘Use this Arrow’ to transfer the information to the top section. Pay special attention to the arrow picture when you click in the input boxes. It changes and alerts you to what the program is looking for.

The Output Forms

Spine

This section is very different than the old TAP. There are two pointers on this spine graph. The top black pointer is how your arrow selected matches the bow you entered. It is basically ‘read only’ in the following calculation modes; ‘Single Speed’, ‘Two Speeds’ and ‘Sight Marks’. The bottom blue pointer shows how the arrow in the chart spines for your bow. You can widen the choices below by changing the ‘Spine Tolerance’ value. Default is 4 pounds.

The bottom chart is populated based on the shaft length and tip weight you entered on the arrow form.

If you MUST play around and see if you can get your selected arrow to spine better on the top pointer you MUST remember that any and ALL changes to your bow or arrow will affect the bows BPF. Here’s and example: You select ‘Single Speed’, enter your bow and arrow information and TAP calculates your BPF at 1.30. The ‘Spine’ form shows that your arrow is under spined. If you simply change the tip weight or arrow length or any of the bow specs without also changing the speed your entered, you will get ever floating results.

The best way to do ‘What ifs’ is to select ‘Calculate Everything’ and then go ahead and select your bow and arrow and adjust this way. TAP will use the database BPF and will adjust the output speed accordingly.

Clicking on the ‘Spine Graph’ button will change the view so that we now have a 3 dimensional view of your arrows spine. The vertical axis is Grains per Pound of draw weight. The horizontal axis is the approximate weight over or under the ‘ideal’ weight for the selected arrow. The black circle is your entered arrow and the blue circle is the arrow selected in the chart on the ‘Spine’ form.

***Advanced Users***

You can still use any of the calculation methods to adjust your arrows spine but pay SPECIAL attention to the ‘Calculated speed’ column in the bottom Spine chart. Here’s another example of how to use this feature: You selected ‘Single Speed’ or any of the other methods aside from ‘Calculate Everything’. You enter all of your bow and arrow information. Your spine is off…..look at the arrows listed but remember to CHANGE your speed on the input form to use this arrow in your new calculations!

Sight Tapes

This form is where you build your Sight Tape. Whenever you change something the Tape will change to reflect those changes. Remember that what you see is what you get!

Sight Marks

This form shows your sight settings based on the type of sight you selected on the ‘Sight Information’ form. Remember to change the ‘Reference Mark’ input field to reflect your sighted in mark.

Ballistic Data

This form shows your raw Ballistic Data for your bow/arrow combination. You can adjust the parameters for the data by adjusting the input fields on the left upper side of this form. The ‘POI’ selection will change the back color of the chart below to reflect your desired ‘Point of Impact’ tolerance from your reference setting. Example: Change your point of impact to 4 inches. Click ‘Update Data’ and pay attention to the data below. Anything in yellow will be within the margin of 4 inches from your sighted in point.

To view the cut chart and ‘Angle Data’ simply select it from the options. ***Important*** this is a very intensive calculation and can take several seconds to complete based on the options you select! Be patient!

Printing

Sight Tapes

Once you are done with the options and have the tape your want, you can do nothing more and print on plain paper with no problems. The number of tapes and where to start will draw your tapes based on the label selection.

If you are printing on a label you can either select it from the drop down list, or you can enter the specs on the tape form. Clicking ‘View Template’ will show the label you selected or created.

Clicking ‘Print Preview’ in the menu above will show you exactly how the tapes will print.

Sight Marks

What you see on this form is what will print. You can select ‘Print Preview’ in the menu above to see what will print. If you want to get creative you can adjust the Print scale value and see how large or small you can print it and still read it. I am able to print this whole form on an index card with this option!

Ballistic Data

What you see on this form is what will print. Select ‘Print Preview’ in the menu above to see what the print will look like. This form also has a Print scale value to adjust to customize the print output size to fit on just about any paper or card size your printer can take.

Exporting Data

Sight Marks and Ballistic Data

What you see on this form is what will export in either comma separated values (.csv) or tab delimited text (.txt). Either one of these formats will open in you spreadsheet program of choice such as Microsoft Excel or Open Office. You can then customize this data with color etc how ever you like.

Database Utilities

Backing up your database

***IMPORTANT*** before you make any changes to your database you must back it up first. I am not planning on having any method to fix this other than a complete re-install of the program. To back up your data simply click on ‘Database Utilities’ in the menu on the top of the main program form. Select “Backup Database’ you will be prompted when complete.

Restoring your database

***IMPORTANT*** this will overwrite your existing database. Any changes you made since your last backup will be overwritten. This should only be used to fix problems in the program relating to missing data. To restore your database simply click on ‘Database Utilities’ in the main menu. Click ‘Restore Database’ and wait for the prompt.

Editing the database

***IMPORTANT*** ALWAYS back your database up before making ANY edits. To open the databases for editing you will click on ‘Database Utilities’ then click on ‘Edit Databases’. This will make a button visible on the Bow and Arrow input form which will allow you to edit the data. Make SURE to enter data in each field or you will get data errors in the program. To make the Bow visible remember to select ‘Calculate Everything’ on the ‘Calculation Method’ form.

Saving and Opening Files

Once you have entered all your data in the program and before closing you can click ‘File’ in the upper menu or click the ‘Disk’ in the toolbar to open the ‘Save File’ dialog. Click a meaningful name and where you want to save the file and click save. Your program data is now saved for future reference. To open a saved file click on the ‘File’ in the main menu and ‘open’ or click the ‘folder’ in the toolbar. Navigate to your saved file location and click open. The program will automatically load all your settings and values.

Registrations

To register the program follow the directions under ‘Help’ and ‘Register’ in the main menu on the top of the main program form. If the program is run more than 10 times without registration it will become disabled. Registering the program will enable the program once again.

To move your registration to a different computer click ‘Un-Register’ on the registration form. You will be alerted when this is completed. Now you can install and register on a different computer.

Updates

Periodically you should click ‘Database Utilities’ in the main menu and click ‘Check for updates’. TAP will go out to the web and check your program against the available updates and install for you if you choose to. These updates are free of charge for one year from your purchase date which can be checked on your Registration information page found by clicking on ‘Help’ and ‘Registration information’